1) IDP Update October 2025: Military campaign disrupts civilian life and services while causing new displacements
Between September and October 2025, West Papua experienced widespread internal displacement affecting more than 102,966 civilians across multiple regencies due to military operations and armed conflict (see table below). The vast majority of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) are indigenous Papuans. The most severe crises occurred in Intan Jaya, where successive military operations in September displaced entire villages. A particularly deadly operation in Soanggama on 15 October killed 15 people and displaced 145 residents to Hitadipa. Simultaneously, Teluk Bintuni saw 238 people flee to the forests following armed clashes on 11 October. Approximately 2,000-2,300 residents fled their homes in Lanny Jaya after a military helicopter operation on 5 October disrupted a church service. Paniai experienced the displacement of 1,130 people after security forces occupied a community health center, and Yalimo saw over 600 residents, including teachers and civil servants, flee to Wamena in September 2025 due to civil unrest in the town of Elelim.
The humanitarian conditions across all displacement sites were uniformly dire, characterized by acute shortages of food, medicine, clean water, and shelter. IDPs sheltering in forests faced particularly harsh conditions with minimal humanitarian access, while those in evacuation camps struggled with severe overcrowding, inadequate resources, and the complete cessation of daily activities. The situation is further complicated by communication difficulties, restricted humanitarian access due to security force controls, and the presence of vulnerable populations, including children, pregnant women, and elderly persons without specialized support services.
Military occupation of civilian infrastructure, including schools, churches, and health centers, not only triggered initial displacement but also prevented returns and disrupted essential services. This pattern continues to recur in the context of armed conflict in West Papua, despite heavy criticism from national human rights observers. In February 2025, the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) condemned the use of public facilities such as schools, district offices, and churches as security posts by the Indonesian military (TNI) and police in West Papua, stating that it constitutes a human rights violation..........................
Full update
2) Police disperse KNPB activists and Yahim residents during community service activity
On the morning of 8 September 2025, around 30 police officers from the Jayapura District Police, using three police cars and six patrol motorcycles, dispersed members of the National Committee for West Papua (KNPB) Sentani Region and Yahim residents while they were carrying out a community service activity to clean the Yahim Sentani highway, Sentani Town, Jayapura Regency, Papua Province. No arrests or physical violence were reported, but the action disrupted the peaceful activity.
At around 09:00 am, KNPB activists and Yahim community members began a voluntary road cleaning activity. The initiative aimed to clear trash and debris from the clogged drainage ditches along the Yahim Sentani road, a problem the local community said had been neglected by the local government. The joint activity was an initiative to promote environmental cleanliness and community cooperation.
Shortly after the cleanup began, approximately 30 officers from the Jayapura District Police arrived at the scene. Without prior warning or presenting an official letter of prohibition, they ordered the volunteers to stop their activity. During brief negotiations, the police reportedly insisted that the activity could not continue without giving any legal justification. Despite the peaceful nature of the event, the police forcefully dispersed the crowd at approximately 09:47 am.
Human rights analysis
The dispersal of a peaceful and voluntary community service activity constitutes a violation of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, as guaranteed under Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Indonesia is a State Party. The police action also reflects an ongoing pattern of discrimination and undue restriction against civic activities linked to the KNPB, even when such actions are non-political and serve public interests.
By interrupting an environmentally focused community effort, the authorities failed to uphold their positive obligation to facilitate, rather than obstruct, peaceful civic participation. Such conduct contributes to the climate of fear and stigmatisation faced by Papuan civil society actors, discouraging community-driven initiatives. The case exemplifies the continued harassment and obstruction faced by Papuan civil society organisations in exercising basic rights of peaceful assemblyand participation in public life.
Police officers disperse the public cleaning activity in Sentani on 8 September 2025
Detailed Case Data
Location: Yahim, Sentani, Jayapura Regency, Papua, Indonesia (-2.5874982, 140.5057971) Yahim Sentani Road, Sentani
Region: Indonesia, Papua, Jayapura Regency, Sentani
Total number of victims: dozens
| # | Number of Victims | Name, Details | Gender | Age | Group Affiliation | Violations |
| 1. | dozens | mixed | unknown | Activist | freedom of assembly |
Perpetrator: , POLRES
Perpetrator details: Polres Jayapura
Issues: indigenous peoplesOn September 23, the European Union and Indonesia signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) after 19 rounds of negotiations over nine years.
The agreement is part of the EU’s drive to diversify trade and alliances and reduce its reliance on the United States following the imposition of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The bloc also aims to strike deals with ASEAN nations Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines by 2027.
The deal will remove 98 percent of tariffs in a bid to increase trade between the EU and Indonesia, which currently worth 27.3 billion euro ($31.7 billion). It will also provide “a stable supply of critical raw materials” for Europe’s clean energy transition, European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen has said.
The CEPA is also a major foreign policy win for Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto, who has faced a number of problems since taking office last year, including mass protests over politicians’ perks and mass outbreaks of food poisoning of schoolchildren linked to his flagship free school meals program.
Shared Values
In a press conference in Brussels in July, Von Der Leyen and Prabowo stated that their ties were “grounded in shared values of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.”
But events unfolding in Indonesia tell a different story. A week earlier, Dr. Albert Barume, the U.N. special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples, paid an official visit to Indonesia’s Papua region. While in Papua, he described his sadness at the mistreatment of Indigenous Papuans who have been evicted from their ancestral forests by Indonesian security forces to make way for agricultural plantations.
Relatively untouched compared to heavily deforested Borneo and Sumatra, Papua is now the epicenter of Prabowo’s military-backed Food Estates Program, which is bulldozing 2 million hectares of rainforest to set up plantations for sugar, rice and palm oil, with the stated aim of achieving food self-sufficiency.
Human rights activists say that “Prabowo’s militaristic regime in West Papua is even worse than we feared,” Indonesian human rights lawyer Veronica Koman told The Diplomat, pointing to a recent “massacre” of 15 Indigenous Papuans on October 15.
“There have been massive troop deployments into West Papua since Prabowo took charge and we’re seeing more airstrikes and more sophisticated equipment being used,” she added.
West Papua was annexed in 1962 by Indonesia, igniting a conflict between the Indonesian state and a political movement that is fighting for independence. Some organizations estimate that as many as 500,000 have been killed in the conflict since 1962, while around 100,000 Papuans have been displaced since 2018 by conflict or resource extraction-related evictions.
CEPA includes a duty-free quota for crude palm and palm kernel oil that is projected to increase imports to the EU by over 20 percent, which signals a significant retreat from the EU’s position when it was “critical of deforestation and land grabbing in Indonesia,” according to Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch.
“It provides a bigger market in Europe without strict requirements for palm oil, woods, and minerals from Indonesia, and as with the Food Estate program, no Papuans were consulted.”
West Papua is also home to the world’s largest copper mine, Grasberg, which is expected to supply the EU market with copper and gold under the CEPA. However, the mine also reportedly dumps 300,000 tons of toxic waste, containing mercury and cyanide, into surrounding rivers each day, undermining CEPA’s commitment “to ensure that mining operations do not have adverse effects on the environment.”
Carles Puigdemont, a former MEP and president of Catalonia in exile, says that the EU’s indirect endorsement of Indonesian mining projects “could lead to an increase in violence, especially in the West Papua region.” He added, “It’s a shame for us as Europeans, because this was a good opportunity to influence President Prabowo’s government policies to achieve political solutions for the West Papuan conflict.”
In addition to its fierce clampdown on the Papuan separatist movement, the government has not hesitated to jail environmental defenders and others fighting for indigenous rights, according to the Indonesian NGO JATAM. Organizations such as Greenpeace Indonesia say that this could worsen under Prabowo, who has given the military a greater role in government.
CEPA “incentivizes the occupation of West Papua by providing market access for the spoils of war and waives accountability for past war crimes and ongoing abuses,” Koman says. “It’s a slap in the face for West Papuans and bad news for human rights and the environment.”
Watered Down Commitments
Negotiations for an Indonesia-EU free trade agreement began in July 2016, but took nine years to conclude, partly due to Indonesian resistance to EU environmental frameworks that restricted the import of products, such as palm oil, connected to deforestation and human rights violations.
While CEPA appears to maintain the EU’s position on human rights and the environment, by mandating Indonesia’s adherence to the Paris Agreement and requiring that both nations “respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights, the right to health, the rights of indigenous peoples,” it also recognizes Indonesia’s right “to establish its own levels of domestic environmental and social protection,” giving the government wide latitude.
This marks a concerning reversal. In 2019, the EU conducted an Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) to evaluate the impacts, both negative and positive, of the CEPA with Indonesia. Since then, Indonesia has passed laws weakening environmental protections, including the Omnibus Law of 2020, the revised penal code of 2022, and rushed amendments to the Mining Law in 2025.
The SIA sets a clear benchmark that illustrates the shortfalls of the final CEPA text. With regard to human rights, the SIA noted that a free trade deal could have “negative impacts on the people in Indonesia occupied in sectors that are expected to see rapid expansion, especially where concerns already exist on human rights.”
It also expresses concern about Indonesia’s “weak implementation of laws on indigenous peoples’ land rights,” stating the deal carries the “risk of increased human rights violations, as raising profits could potentially disincentivize” enforcement of indigenous people’s rights. The SIA recommended that CEPA include “specific references” to “indigenous peoples” and “the ILO Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples.”
The final text of the agreement mentions neither of these things.
The EU Commission’s spokesperson for trade, Olof Gill, defended the deal, saying that the 2014 EU-Indonesia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) “establishes the respect for human rights as an essential underlying element. The legal and institutional link between the CEPA and the PCA ensures that the respect of human rights is an essential element of the trade deal.”
But the PCA is not a legally binding enforcement mechanism. A breach of rights does not compel the EU to suspend trade preferences or enact penalties, but only allows them to do so, leaving implementation dependent on political will.
Since the PCA’s implementation, over a decade of well documented human and environmental rights violations have occurred. But the EU has never activated article 44 of the PCA, allowing it to suspend cooperation or curtail trade preferences.
“This is a disaster for Papuans,” says Benny Wenda, a Papuan living in exile in the United Kingdom. “They are authorizing ecocide and genocide in West Papua. The EU must stop this deal. They are giving Indonesia a mandate to deploy their troops, control our natural resources, and destroy our forests.”
Where the SIA called for independent, verifiable systems to trace deforestation, CEPA now gives the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) scheme legitimacy, despite NGOs warning that it offers “less protection of High Conservation Value” forest and is governed by “looser environmental standards.”
Critics agree the deal is likely to inflame the long-running conflict in Papua further. Koman, who regularly disseminates information on the state of conflict between Indonesian forces and Papuan resistance fighters, says that now “the resistance movement will escalate no matter what.”
“It’s getting stronger and larger every day due to its popularity among Papuans, despite Indonesia’s brutal effort to crush them,” she says. “The difference is now the European public is directly implicated in this bloodshed.”
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https://en.tempo.co/read/2060694/forestry-minister-apologizes-for-papuas-cenderawasih-crown-burning
4) Forestry Minister Apologizes for Papua's Cenderawasih Crown Burning
Reporter Antara October 27, 2025 | 03:27 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni has apologized to the entire Papuan community for the burning of the Cenderawasih Crown by the Papua Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA).
"On behalf of the Ministry of Forestry, I apologize for what happened. I plan to gather all BKSDA personnel via Zoom today to re-inventory what is considered taboo or sacred in the community, so that law enforcement does not violate such things," Minister Raja Juli Antoni said in Denpasar, Bali, as reported by Antara on Monday, October 27, 2026.
During a working visit to Denpasar, the Minister explained that the destruction of evidence, such as the offset and Cenderawasih crown, during the enforcement process against the trade of protected wildlife was legally permissible.
He stated that while the action was legally correct, it was non-contextual when local wisdom was considered, resulting in the estrangement of the Papuan community.
Acknowledging that the BKSDA should have understood these local norms, Minister Raja Juli has sent one of the first-echelon officials to Papua to engage in dialogue with the Papua People's Assembly (MRP) and students.
"So this will not recur in Papua, in Bali, or elsewhere. I will gather all agency heads virtually to revisit the values of local wisdom, local taboos, and local terminology that mandate caution on our part," he affirmed.
Arising from the Cenderawasih Crown incident, the Minister underscored a more pressing matter: the challenge of the Cenderawasih bird's wild growth. He appealed to the Papua community to safeguard this natural heritage.
During a working visit to Denpasar, the Minister explained that the destruction of evidence, such as the offset and Cenderawasih crown, during the enforcement process against the trade of protected wildlife was legally permissible.
He stated that while the action was legally correct, it was non-contextual when local wisdom was considered, resulting in the estrangement of the Papuan community.
Acknowledging that the BKSDA should have understood these local norms, Minister Raja Juli has sent one of the first-echelon officials to Papua to engage in dialogue with the Papua People's Assembly (MRP) and students.
"So this will not recur in Papua, in Bali, or elsewhere. I will gather all agency heads virtually to revisit the values of local wisdom, local taboos, and local terminology that mandate caution on our part," he affirmed.
Arising from the Cenderawasih Crown incident, the Minister underscored a more pressing matter: the challenge of the Cenderawasih bird's wild growth. He appealed to the Papua community to safeguard this natural heritage.
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https://www.miragenews.com/indigenous-youth-rise-unified-voice-in-tropics-1559583/
5) Indigenous Youth Rise: Unified Voice in Tropics
29 OCT 2025 11:39 AM AEDT GreenpeaceDeep within the forest of Sira Village, West Papua, nearly 100 young Indigenous Leaders gathered this September for the Forest Defenders Camp. They came from across the region as well as the Brazilian Amazon, the Congo Basin, and Borneo. Organized by the Knasaimos Indigenous Youth Community, Bentara Papua, and Greenpeace Indonesia, the four-day camp was a seminal moment for the growing solidarity among Indigenous youth from the world's largest tropical forests.
At the opening ceremony, Nabot Sreklefat of the Knasaimos Indigenous Youth Community found the presence of representatives from across major rainforest regions deeply inspiring.
Shamefully, the voices of young people, especially Indigenous Peoples, are routinely marginalised in decision-making. My hope is that from this camp of forest defenders, our voices will reach the national and international stage.
"Without a doubt, it is a truly incredible experience. To travel halfway across the world, directly from the Brazilian Amazon, and be here, witnessing all of this up close, is a great privilege for me. Regardless of where we are, the struggle of Indigenous Peoples continues. We continue to defend the forest, defend our home, and seek recognition that we are the defenders of the forest.
It takes a village
Building a bridge
For Indigenous Peoples from the world's major tropical forest regions, the Forest Defender Camp was the latest in a series of important gatherings this year. In May, Indigenous Leaders held the First Global Congress of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (The Congress) from the Forest Basins in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.
The gathering delivered the Brazzaville Declaration, a unified call for forest-protection across Africa, Asia, Mesoamerica, and South America. Together, these four regions are home to over two-thirds of remaining tropical forests, and are vital carbon sinks that we must preserve to prevent runaway climate change.
Now it was the young people's turn. For four days, the activists shared and learned from one another-using interpreters to translate their thoughts and feelings across French, Indonesian, English, Portuguese and Malay, as well as many Indigenous languages. Surrounded by the echoing calls of insects and birds of paradise, the young leaders spoke passionately about their community's struggles and hardships, and expressed dreams of a future where their forest homes and civilisations could thrive. There were also sessions on storytelling for movements, grassroots organising, traditional medicine and more.
As Indigenous People, we all share the same realities, same struggles and same challenges across our communities. That is why we must work together in solidarity to obtain what we want. It is time for us to act as one and make our voices heard for the preservation of our forest, our home.
The declaration also champions a hopeful vision. While the world seeks answers to the climate and biodiversity crises through shiny techno-fixes, these Indigenous youth assert that the solutions already exist-among their peoples. Solving humanity's crisis with the Earth requires us to change how we live, what we value, and who we listen to. In all these senses, Indigenous communities have a great deal to teach the rest of us.
The way Indigenous Peoples and the rest of the world look at forests is very different. The world sees forests as commodities-but for us, they are life itself. Indigenous Peoples have been the custodians of forests and natural landscapes for generations-doing a much better job than any outside actor. We will not budge. The duty to care for the planet is in our blood, and we will continue to protect our forests, our territories and our land. When we defend our territories, we defend the planet.
It's time for us all to heed the wisdom of Indigenous communities that have not lost their connection with the Earth. Hearing, respecting and standing with Indigenous communities today is central to healing both the world and humanity. Our collective future depends on this change.
Tsering Lama is a Story Manager with Greenpeace International.
It's time for us all to heed the wisdom of Indigenous communities that have not lost their connection with the Earth. Hearing, respecting and standing with Indigenous communities today is central to healing both the world and humanity. Our collective future depends on this change.
Tsering Lama is a Story Manager with Greenpeace International.
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